This Never Happened Before
by photo41
Summary: AU- It's the year 2012 and two stranger's lives inexplicably cross at Downton, which has been converted into a hotel. Dawne and Colin feel drawn to the mystery of the old building and team up to unravel the secrets of it's past, and their own. *Spoilers for Season 3*
1. Prologue

**Well... fancy seeing you here. You're witness into my first foray into a full chaptered story, so congrats and warnings at the same time. For those who don't know me, I'm photo41, previously forayer into the world of Class of the Titans, but time, as it does, passed and I fell in love with Downton, then grew to despise it as it changed from a period piece with a hint of soap to a Soapy mess set in previous years. I only legit liked 2 episodes from season 3 and am very disappointed with the plot development as well as the character development and really was never fond of the Matthew and Mary show. My other love, scifi, at least only kills off redshirts and not the best, important, and well rounded characters. F U Fellowes. F U. So my anger and epic procrastination combined to create the perfect storm, so I give you my story which I hope isn't as soapy as the last season.**

**Who am I kidding? That's impossible. Anyways, no copyright infringement intended, etc. Shit would not be the way it is if I was in charge, lemme tell you. I hope they end it at the Christmas special.**

***SPOLIERS BE AHEAD* just to warn you. This is also very slow burn too, so if this fist chapter bores you, just skim, it's mostly just set up. we get into the nitty gritty next chapter!**

_It was about 24 hours since the unthinkable happened, and Tom Branson slowly surveyed the grandiose grounds of Downton. Realizing (not for the first time) that his life would never be the same again. _

Dawne Brooks sighed and put down her book, glancing out her kitchen window into the warm summer light. She usually loved reading, but even having finished exams a couple months ago, she still felt so saturated with words and ideas that overconsumption was nigh if she continued with her present course. She glanced around her small kitchen to hear keys jingle in the lock down the hall- her mother was home with the groceries. Eager for something to do Dawn leapt off her chair and opened the door for her mother, who was –rather precariously- balancing a couple boxes of food items whilst trying to figure out how to open the door and not drop her keys. Smiling gratefully at her daughter, she handed Dawne a box and they went to put away the spoils from her trip.

"I got a letter from your Aunt today" began Dawne's mother, as she stretched to put away a can of soup, "She's doing well and is excited for the warm weather"

"What, you mean the old rich one who normally doesn't want anything todo with us peasants? Why on earth is she contacting us?"

"Lonely I expect, I don't think she has much company in that hotel she lives in. She wants us to visit"

"Well she shouldn't have treated Gran like dirt when she went off and became a trophy wife, and there's no way Dad would ever want to go up North, especially not to see her."

"Darling, she was young and foolish. I'll admit she is a bit miserly, but she needs all her money if she insists on going on living in that dastardly hotel. And she doesn't want to see your father, not after what he called her during the last visit"

"Served her right too"

"She wants you to go see her, she knows you're on holiday now, and she wants you to stay for a couple months. We're the only family she's got left now"

"When hell freezes over"

"Darling, you're almost a third through your gap year and you haven't done anything with yourself. Best get a move on before you go to school" Dawne gave her mother a pointed look "IF you want to go to school that is. Who knows, some time up in the country might help you decided things"

"We'll see Mum. I'll see you in a bit, I'm expecting a call from Alaina, I'll be down in time for dinner.

With that, Dawne quickly escaped upstairs and hid in her room, thankful she had escaped the talk, for now. She wasn't really expecting a call from her friend, but after graduating High School, Dawne was still unsure what she wanted to do with her life. Being raised by two Cambridge grads, they had always primed her to go to their Alma Mater and study liberal arts; just like them. Dawne, on the other hand, wasn't sure she wanted to do that. In fact, she knew she didn't want to do that, yet she didn't know what she wanted to do either, so she had no choice but to go. Maybe it was the fact she was expected to do well with arts and language etc etc, but she felt she had a higher calling than that. When she tried to explain this feeling that she was someone else, that her destiny was beyond history or language lectures, it often led to arguments. Her friends were no help either; many jealous of her acceptance would just huff and tell her to not look a gift horse in the mouth, no matter, she never felt like she belonged with them anyway.

Maybe sometime in the country where she could escape the random gifts of Oxford memorabilia would be a good idea after all.

"Oi Mate, guess what we're doing next week!"

Colin Donalds looked up from his work to his best friend, rather apprehensively. Ned's schemes were never thought through and often (always) led to disaster.

"what?"

"Backpacking! Walking right across the top of England! Isn't that fantastic?!"

"Walking. Across the top of England. How long will that take exactly?"

"Four weeks I expect, but come on mate, you can take whatever time off you want, you're you're own boss, you lucky bastard. How often do you come across an adventure like this?!"

"With you, everyday. And I'm not a bastard, thank you, my parents were married a year before I was born. Where does one sleep when they are walking across the top of England?"

"B&B's, or course, walk between them, send your luggage ahead of you, jolly way to see the Green Isle innit?" **(A/N is it England or Ireland that's the green Isle?)**

"For you maybe. I have work to do."

"aw come on? Please? I was originally going to go with Mark, but he had to go and get himself engaged. She won't let 'im go. You haven't had a break in years, It'll be fun"

"I wonder why. I'll think about it ned, but please, leave me alone for now, I'm busy" Colin ran his hand tiredly down his face as he went back to work. The more the 26 year old though about it, oddly enough, the more it appealed to him. He'd spent the last four years building up this business after he graduated, and well, didn't he deserve a break? Granted, England wasn't his first destination for backpacking, mainland Europe sounded much better, but he wouldn't have to worry about arrangements... much. In the back of his mind, the other reason for going even though his conscience was very much against the idea, was that there was nothing but sheep in the north; he could clear his mind and get some thinking done; he was pro at drowning out Ned's incessant chatter. He had hoped starting his own business would fill the void of lack of accomplishment that graduating University had left him, but yet he still felt unfulfilled.

Who knows, maybe amid the lush green countryside, he'd find himself.

**So there you have it! Our two main characters! How will their paths cross? What does this have to do with Downton? We shall see in the next instalment! I apologize for mistakes, I'm to lazy to edit beyond spell check. I got the idea from backpacking across the top of England whilst staying at B&B's and sending your luggage ahead to them from my friend, who actually did it. Walked from sea to sea. Epic huh? Well, thanks for reading, and Live Long & Prosper!**

**Photo41 (And yes, Dawne with an E. It's my sister's middle name, OK?!)**


	2. Arrival

**So, that American election eh? GOBAMA. See what I did there? Thanks to all who poked in for a visit last time, even though it was kinda boring, but necessary evil, as they say. If I randomly insert Shakespeare, it's because I'm studying him in school right now, and he's the best. So yep.**

**Did Sybil live? Nope. So therefore I have nothing to do with Downton.**

Dawne shifted uncomfortably in her seat, as the cab her Aunt sent for her hurtled through the lush English countryside. Her book sat idle on the seat beside her as she gazed unto more green than she has seen in her entire life, troubled by the apprehensive of the inevitable awkwardness that would greet her once she saw her Aunt. She was in the middle of regretting her decision to come to the hotel when she saw it; the huge spires reaching towards the sky, the magnificent arches which looked as if they belonged to another world, the long winding driveway leading back in time- Dawne's mouth dropped as she gazed upon Downton Hotel in all it's grandeur. Her trance was cut short when the cab screeched to a halt and the cabbie moved to help her with her things. She reached toward the handle and put one foot on the ground, when she was struck by the oddest feeling she'd ever felt. Sadness, happiness, anger and love cavorted around her senses all at the same time. A familiar tingling feeling overwhelmed her and confused her as she got out of the car. She didn't realize that the driver had already dropped her things on the driveway and taken off, the powerful emotions that raged throughout her body got stronger every step she took towards the house.

"Get a grip" she told herself silently as a bellboy brought her things indoors. She barely registered herself answering the questions of the concierge and was mostly broken out of her reverie when she heard an all to familiar voice

"Dawne, darling! How lovely you look" Her Aunt. Who by the way, had never called Dawne anything close to lovely in her life.

"Hello Auntie" Dawne breathed as she was pulled into a hug that she'd never gotten before "what an interesting hotel you're in"

"Isn't it? It used to be an Earl's residence until the family decided it was too much for them and sold it, furnishings and all. I'm SO glad to see you my dear, we'll have to catch up and I want to hear all about your trip..." Dawne had stopped listening at this point. Still in shock from how strongly she felt about this place and the fact her Aunt was being friendly, she stopped in her tracks, almost taking out the poor bell boy whom Dawne was also ignoring.

She remembered what that framiliar feeling was.

Deja Vu.

The hill was slick with the thick, squelchy mud, and the wind whistled through the trees as the rain pelted the earth, creating a sea of dirt. The night was pitch black, illuminated only by the odd lightning strikes which were followed by deep ominous peals of thunder which served to make the ground feel as it shook; in short, Colin had been in better weather.

He should've known. He really should've. Nothing Ned planned ever properly panned out. It was odd really, that the first weeks should have been so perfect, everything went smoothly, nothing amiss. Which, he realized then, was a bad omen. Instead of little annoying things, like Ned forgetting to pay, or forgetting clean socks etc. Etc. All the bad things piled up into this great big mess; they were lost in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a storm, whilst Ned was in the middle of being sick. Really. He realized he never should have been as so stupid to listen to Ned's pleas of 'taking a shortcut', but he was in a good mood, so whatever. But then they hadn't seen head nor tail of a road for like, 5 hours. Then Colin swore they passed the same rock at least 10 times. Then Ned proceeded to hallucinate, from what Colin assumed to be dehydration. Then it started to rain. And thunder. And Lightning.

"Hey" started Ned, "At least I'm not dehydrated anymore." Colin resisted the urge to punch him in the face. So there they were, at least 5 hours later, without food. Colin had no idea how to use a compass, so they were effectively lost. Then he saw it; a road, which undoubtedly led to a dwelling of some sort.

"Thank God" thought Colin, "shelter". Then they got closer, and the house started to emerge on the horizon. Colin almost insisted on turning back. The grand house seemed to be transported from another dimension, it's brown brick slightly weathered from the test of time, and for someone who had been in the rain for at least 3 hours, it should have been a welcome sight. Colin hated it straight away. He was repulsed by the large house, and as he got closer and closer, a creeping feeling of dread, anger, resentment and sadness became more and more prominent. Yet he pressed on, for the sake of Ned, who was currently debating what he should do about the sentinels who were trying to keep them from going back into the Matrix. They reached the large wooden doors and Colin hesitated, not wanting to step foot into the house he was certain was cursed, yet he banged on the door. No one answered. He tried again, nothing. He took a step back, and pulled his collar more around his face and neck and glanced around to see if there was another entrance when the door opened. He peered out from under his hat, as the door men looked at him with surprise.

"Do you have any luggage sir?" Colin looked at the man incredulously as he pulled Ned indoors.

"I barely have the clothes I stand in."

"Why are you here then sir" For the second time that night, Colin fought the urge to punch someone in the face. It's wet, bloody cold, and my friend is hallucinating, what do you think?

"My friend and I got lost. He's sick, could you please send for a doctor?" The door man nodded and rang for the concierge.

"Would you please have Hugh prepare a room for them?"

"Two please, I don't want to share a room with him." Colin was afraid he might be tempted to murder Ned in his sleep.

"Quite so sir, this way." Ned trudged up the stair case as he looked around the castle; the feeling of dread permeating his every cell; the house was large and cavernous, looking gothic in it's style and Colin hated it. He didn't quite know why, but he hated every second he was in there.

"What is this place?"

"Downton hotel, sir, it was formerly the ancestral home of the Crawley family who parted with it in the 1980's. You can read all about it's fascinating history in our tour brochure. Many of the furnishings are original, for example, the library contains books originally owned by the family." Colin was never superstitious, but for some reason, he felt he had to ask

"is it haunted or something?" The doorman chuckled.

"well, personally, I haven't seen any ghosts, but many guests have had 'spectral' experiences or feelings. You can read all about it.."

"In the brochure, yeah thanks."

"Very good sir, ring if you need anything" Colin flopped down on the bed. Maybe it was the exhaustion, or the dehydration or the hunger but for some strange reason, he felt sure something was amiss in the house. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew.

It was almost like he'd been here before.

**Aaaah, the plot thickens! Preview of next time: they meet. Usually I have alot to say, but I don't so, see you round! Thanks for reading! OH! Sorry for mistakes... I'm accurse'd with laziness. Special thanks to sweetnothingshappen for correcting my mistakes in the last chapter! You're really epic. Oh! and just to let you know, the title of the story actually alludes to something, which is apart of something which kinda sorta alludes to the theme of the story... kinda. Points to whomever knows the allusion!**

**Photo41**


	3. Breakfast

**Ahh, the plot kinda thickens! This is taking alot more effort than I thought it would... so I'm kinda proud of myself, but then I look at what other people have accomplished, and I'm like, eh, photo, you aren't so great. Anyways... I added a sentence to chapter 1, just to shake things up a bit.**

The bright sunlight surrounded her as she leisurely sauntered through lush green gardens, as Downton loomed beside her. She ran her hand over the rough tree bark and watched as a couple of girls were chatting amiably in front of her. She glanced up to see a figure walk towards her, and she smiled and felt her heart begin to soar, but as the figure gets closer, she feels as she's getting further and further away, until she's desperately trying to get a look at their face, trying to stop them from slipping away...  
Dawne awakes with a start. She buries her face in her hands as the storm crashes outside her window, the lightning illuminating her lush surroundings. Still shaken by her dream, she reaches over to her lamp and turns it on, and reaches into her nightstand to pick up the brochure that had caught her eye. After she had arrived, the inexplicable emotional roller coaster she had been on had exhausted her, and judging by her dream which had started out so lovely, then turned sour, she wasn't getting off anytime soon. She had already perused the brochures before bed, yet there was something haunting about the story of the old house, something that the brochures failed to explain. She had picked up the haunted tour brochure, which only explained that people thought they could feel presences, could see shadows that almost resembled people on the wall, but no specific mentions of who died. She didn't really want to go on the tour, so she supposed she'd have to find out for herself, and ask any spirits,politely, to leave her the hell alone.  
No pun intended.

The long corridor was dimly lit, and he could hear whispers coming from rooms behind closed doors, yet he wasn't scared. The silence was peaceful, until he hears his name being called, but when he turns around no one is there, he wanders back to the nearest door, and reaches for the handle, suddenly full of unwarranted apprehension...  
When a peal of thunder suddenly wakes him. Groaning, he pulls his cover back over his head, willing himself to go back to sleep. The uncomforting feeling was till with him, yet unless he wanted to walk the rest of the way by himself, he was going to have to wait at least two weeks for Ned to be healed, the stupid git. He shifted uncomfortably in his bed, determined to figure out why he hated it here so much.

The blaring of a telephone awoke Dawne with a start. She had fallen asleep reading the pamphlets, and as such, was clutching one when she fumbled to pick up the phone beside her bed. Drowsily, she answered.  
"Hello?"  
"Good Morning Ms. Brooks, this is your wake up call" Dawne was confused.  
"I didn't order..."  
"Your Grandmother has also asked that you come down for breakfast immediately." That explained it.  
"Ok... thanks". Dawne sat up, and pondered whether or not she should make the effort of looking presentable.

Colin sat at the main dining table in the hotel's restaurant, or rather dining hall. One large table filled a large sunny room, complete with extra large windows and paintings. Currently, he was hiding behind his newspaper as he drank his coffee and picked at his breakfast- the unsettling feeling from yesterday still lingered in his mind. He was hiding from a particularly outspoken woman sitting at the other end of the table, who despite not knowing anyone, made it her business to ask them personal questions and comment on their lives- and know everything there was to know about everything, ever. Colin had so far avoided her line of questioning, having positioned himself on the furthest end of the table, but he came into contact with these type of people everyday, and he knew that making as little eye contact as possible was the best route to take. The door to the room opened, and suddenly, the woman's questioning stopped.  
"Dawne! Darling, how nice of you to join us. You should've done something better with your hair though darling, what you've done with it looks absolutely frightful." Unable to contain his curiosity, Colin peered cautiously over the edge of his paper- only to look upon one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. Suddenly the feeling that had overtaken him yesterday sprung up again, except this time, it was mixed with something else, and when the girl looked over and met his eyes, he identified what it was- happiness. Unfortunately for poor Colin however, if he was able to meet the girl's eyes, it meant that he was no longer hiding.  
"Young man! Stop staring, it's unbelievably rude. I know Dawne's appearance this morning leaves much to be desired, but by no means should that give you leave to gape at her." Colin and the girl, whose name he inferred to be Dawne, both turned a deep red. Colin mumbled his apologies and turned back to his paper, unable to concentrate on the words anymore.  
Dawne should've known that this morning would have an incident. She'd been incident free so far, and it was only a matter of time. When she walked into the breakfast room, she immediately regretted not dolling herself up; her Aunt started criticizing as soon as she laid eyes on her. She cast her eyes around the room as her Aunt listed what was wrong with her, and noticed someone at the end of the table looking at her.  
"Oh yeah," Dawne thought to herself, "I really should've done something with myself" He was in his mid twenties, Dawne guessed, and he was extremely handsome. However, when she met his gaze, she felt like she was going downhill on that rollercoaster again, and the barrage of emotions started up again. He looked just as floored as her, and then turned as red as she did when she realized her Aunt was addressing them both. She heard him mutter something, and then go back to his paper.  
"Since you were so late dear, you will simply have to eat your breakfast by yourself. I have a massage, and I don't want to reschedule, it'll mess up my day planner. Always use pencil my dear, always use pencil" Dawne watched incredulously as with that interesting suggestion, her Aunt sauntered out of the room. Dawne snuck a glance at the man at the end of the table, and noticed he was doing the same to her. Averting her eyes quickly, she took some toast from the bar, a deep breath and bravely walked over towards him.  
"Sorry about that" she began "my Aunt can be alittle..."  
"Forward?" he supplied helpfully, Dawne grinned.  
"That's an understatement. Since she abandoned me in favour of her day planner, would you mind if I sat down?" He gestured toward the empty seat. "Thanks. I'm Dawne, by the way" He smirked.  
"I heard. Colin," he replied, extending his hand. Something peculiar happened though, when Dawne took his hand, she was suddenly reminded of her dream from last night which she had forgotten about until then, and hastily removed her hand when she realized she had been holding on longer than socially acceptable. However, he looked as confused as she did. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Colin spoke up.  
"This is going to sound really weird" he began, "but have we met before?"  
"I don't think so" Colin's face fell a bit "But I know what you mean; you seem really familiar for some reason, although I know I've probably never seen you before in my life." Colin looked up  
"That's exactly how I feel too. I was wondering did you, when you arrived..."Colin's phone interrupted his sentence. "Bloody... sorry Dawne, I have to go. My friend needs me apparently. I'll see you 'round?"  
"See you." He got up and left Dawne to finish her meal, and as he left, both of them felt just a little bit colder than what they had before they parted.

**So they've met! And thus the ball is now rolling steadily down the plot slope. I want to apologize for the stereotypical British slur of 'bloody' but I just watched Chamber of Secrets... and Ron says that a lot. As well, I hope you noticed that I used Ms. To describe Dawne instead of Miss, because it's a big deal to be that women are no longer defined by marital status. THINK ABOUT IT. Don't change your last name if you don't want too! Mini feminist rant brought to you by**  
**Photo 41- thanks for the review, anonymous reviewer!**


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